Music and dramatic performances are another area where the authority of text is less rigid.

In music, it is commonly expected that each performer will modify the text in individually creative ways. Typically the specific notes do not change, but the tempo, background rythms, and other characteristics are all fair game for performer creativity.

Even within classical music which has a stronger concern for performing the music as originally written, variations readily exist. Sometimes these come from conductor's artistic interpretation. Other times these come from the composer assumptions. For example, Baroque composers such as Handel often omitted many trills and musical embellishments because it was common practice to expect the performers to insert them as needed.

While dramatic works are also subject to artistic interpretation, they are also working documents whose content changes over time. For example, which edition is the definitive script?

• the version as originally written?
• the many script changes made during production?
• the producers final cuts prior to initial release?
• the embellished DVD edition that restores many scenes cut from the original work.